


Well, At Least Wonder Woman Approves

by josephina_x



Series: Fate + Circumstance != Destiny [1]
Category: Smallville, Smallville Season 11 (Comics), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover, Dimension Travel, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-03
Updated: 2012-11-03
Packaged: 2017-11-17 16:58:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/553823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/josephina_x/pseuds/josephina_x
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Conner gets introduced to another kick-ass member of his family (sort of). Annoyance of Superman ensues. ...Well, at least Wonder Woman approves -- she's <i>almost</i> like a surrogate den mother after Black Canary, right? That should count for something.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Well, At Least Wonder Woman Approves

**Author's Note:**

> Title: Well, At Least Wonder Woman Approves  
> Author: [josephina_x](http://josephina-x.livejournal.com)  
> Fandom: Young Justice (animated), Smallville (TV), Smallville Season 11 (comic)  
> Pairing: gen / canon pairings  
> Rating: PG-13  
> Spoilers: all of Season 1 of YJ; all of Smallville (pre-seven-years-later) and post- the _Legacy_ run of the SV!S11 comic  
>  Word count: 13,700+  
> Summary: Conner gets introduced to another kick-ass member of his family (sort of). Annoyance of Superman ensues. ...Well, at least Wonder Woman approves -- she's _almost_ like a surrogate den mother after Black Canary, right? That should count for something.  
>  Warnings: Crack. SV!Lex owns all. (So does WW.) --Very, very Lex-centric for the majority of the piece.  
> Disclaimer: Not mine, not-for-profit.  
> Comments: Yes, please! :)  
> Author's Note: For the 2012 DCU Big Bang challenge. The lovely artwork is the work of the wonderfully talented [ctbn60](http://ctbn60.livejournal.com), and the exceptional [nicnac918](http://nicnac918.livejournal.com) helped out immensely as a last minute yet still very thorough beta reader! Thank you both so much!
> 
>  
> 
> [ctbn60's artwork post is here :)](http://ctbn60.livejournal.com/344417.html) (and also [here on AO3](http://archiveofourown.org/works/559214))

[](http://s1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg634/josephina_x/dcu-bb-2012/?action=view&current=Well_at_least.png)  
~*~*~*~*~*~

A lone tractor trailer was driving along a stretch of deserted highway late in the day. The driver sighed and yawned slightly as they hit another stretch of roadway with sparse tree cover lining the sides of the road for only a handful of miles. The scenery was otherwise a rather flat and desolate long stretch of grassland, from the countryside on the way to the shining city of Metropolis in the distance.

As the truck with a well-known business logo branded upon it drove straight into the thin thicket, five Young Justice members broke cover from the treeline from behind.

Superboy, with Robin and Aqualad, advanced from the left in the Super Cycle, while Kid Flash and Miss Martian boxed the truck in on the right.

They had almost caught up to the truck by the time the LexCorp goons finally noticed their pursuit, and they started firing at the young teens from the front of the cab. Kaldur'ahm immediately pulled his water bearers and formed a shield to deflect the laser blasts and Robin took the controls, while Superboy jumped onto the top of the trailer and grabbed hold.

Kid Flash yelled encouragement to Miss Martian as she focused mental blasts at the back wheels, while Robin threw batarangs from the other side.

The truck swerved wildly as both back tires blew out. The team members peeled off, taking the attention of the goons’ fire off of Superboy. Slamming a fist into the top of the container, and then another, Superboy broke through and wrenched at the top, peeling the layer of metal away --and then fell back, startled and cursing, as he was immediately assaulted by a host of Professor Ivo's flying MONQIs.

The truck barreled down the deserted highway, nearly out of the small forested stretch, when Red Arrow and Artemis stepped out of the tree line along by the exit that was so tantalizingly close, bows raised, barring the way.

They both let fly one arrow each, blowing out the front two tires.

That did it -- the truck’s front rims slammed down into the pavement oddly and the front end bucked. Already off-balance from the other blown tires, the vehicle overturned, crashed sideways and _kept sliding_ , such was the inertia. Superboy scrambled over the side, dug in his fingers and barely managed to hang on, while his teammates behind him provided air cover the flying monkeys, trying to draw the mechanical monsters off.

Artemis's eyes widened, and she leapt off to the side and into the grassline, out of the crash trajectory. She tucked, rolled in midair, and hit the ground at a full-out sprint. When she brought her bow back up she was all intense focus, running parallel to the road and letting arrows fly at the distracted robots like a well-oiled machine herself, breaking them in direct hits, one after the other after the other.

Red Arrow, on the other hand, just stood there, not moving at all, as the truck bore down on him.

With a long groaning crunching sound of metal being dragged along pavement, the truck laboriously slowed to a stop about three feet from Roy Harper's nose.

\--The cloned Roy Harper, that is.

"Roy, geez, learn to dodge! You got a deathwish?!" Artemis yelled at him, approaching.

"I'm fine; you're just angry that **you** _flinched_ ," he shot back with a sneer, shoving past her.

Artemis huffed at him, but Kid Flash ran up to hold her back.

"Hey, easy; you were helping Superboy -- she was helping Superboy," Wally said, trying to calm the both down.

"Yeah, and you could have, too!" Artemis threw out.

"He didn't need it," Roy rejoined, walking past Conner as he let go of the top -- now side -- of the trailer and dropped to the ground.

"We're a team! Remember? Team? We fight together, cover each other!" Artemis said, shoving Wally off of her and doggedly storming up to the male archer. "You need to get your act together!" she yelled in his face, poking him in the chest.

"I'm just a clone," he ground out, eyes narrowing behind the domino mask, "And we've got a job to do."

Superboy winced slightly.

"No offense," Roy told Conner more quietly, noticing the response and glancing away, suddenly looking a little uncertain as his shoulders dropped.

"It's all right," Robin said. "We can understand why you might be on edge. But you're the one who did all those things with us, and you're a member of our team, ok?"

Roy glanced at Robin, then at Conner who looked at him and nodded, and Roy looked angrily away.

"He's the one who should be on your team, not me!" Roy spat out caustically. "I'm just trying to put things right. --Let's just get this over with," he grumbled, striding towards the back of the locked and bolted trailer.

Artemis stepped forward, looking like she wanted to punch some good sense into him, but Wally held her back and tried calming her down, muttering in her ear. Miss Martian and Aqualad exchanged worried looks, while Robin and Conner exchanged a deeper communicative one.

::Hey, guys,:: they heard Rocket call through the telepathic link; out of sight, she was serving as their lookout overhead. ::There's a lot of noise coming your way in a minute or so, so you'd better hurry!::

::Like what?:: Artemis asked, frowning, as Superboy started prying open the door.

::Uh, like choppers, military-looking vans, buncha cops... maybe the National Guard?:: she said, sounding nervous.

The Team exchanged looks. ::Great,:: Wally said sarcastically.

::That doesn't sound... normal,:: Robin said uncertainly. ::Not for a purely LexCorp operation.::

::We didn't encounter that much resistance taking this one down, either; just a couple MONQIs...:: Wally added, looking a little worried.

::Might this have been a trap?:: Kaldur wondered.

::Are you sure you got your intel right?:: Miss Martian asked Roy tentatively.

::Yes!:: he yelled so loudly that everyone winced. ::Just get it open!::

"You... you stupid kids, get your hands up," one of the guards from the front said, bleeding from a headwound and barely keeping on his feet as leaned against the side of the truck and raised a gun at them.

"Shut up," Roy said, casually loosing an arrow to knock the gun away, and then shooting a boxing glove one against the man's head.

::Oh, hell, here they come! I'm coming down you guys, ok?:: Rocket said, rapidly dropping out of the sky.

Superboy finished wrenching the doors apart with a metallic shriek and then winced at the interior.

"I knew it," Roy muttered as they all peered inside at the stasis tube... which had gotten rattled around inside the back of the truck, fallen sideways, and broken half-open. Whoever was inside was trapped under it, and from the looks of things had been lucky not to have been crushed. "I _knew_ this shipment was from Cadmus."

"Dammit," Robin muttered, taking it all in.

"What? You mean you weren't sure?" Artemis scolded him angrily. Roy winced away.

"Intel is intel until it is fully corroborated; Robin and I reviewed it. It seemed legitimate," Kaldur stated as neutrally as he could.

Superboy pushed his way in through the wide hole, and lifted the cracked remnants of the tube with one hand. Fluid sloshed out, and he got a good look at the inhabitant for the first time.

He froze.

"What are you waiting for!" Roy said harshly. "Get him outta there!"

Superboy flinched, then did as he was bid. He scooped up the man and carried him out under an arm, letting the tube fall back down behind them.

He got out about the time the police, military, and -- shit, news vans -- showed up, along with the militarized LexCorp chopper.

They were surrounded.

Superboy grimaced, because everyone else had formed up a defensive half-circle, backs to him, and he'd been the only one to get a good look at the guy, so far.

And, to make matters worse, Superboy spotted the League in the distance, heading towards them.

"Stay where you are!" someone shouted over a megaphone, and with the spotlights and the perimeter set up with guns and armed men, even the Team was feeling a bit nervous.

Not so much because they were worried about being able to defend themselves, but because they were worried about hurting good officers in the process, and the trial-by-media afterwards.

And then Lex Luthor stepped out of the helicopter.

Conner bristled, but instead of going on the attack, he tried to calm down, and instead knelt down and pulled the man close to him defensively, protectively -- which maybe wasn't the wisest thing to do, given who and what he was, but...

"Gentlemen, ladies, please," Luthor projected. "I'm sure this must all be some unfortunate misunderstanding. Why don't we all put down our weapons, and let the Young Justice members move away from my property and--"

"He's not your property, Luthor!" Red Arrow yelled, irate, "he's--"

"--been taken against his will," Conner projected over him, eyes on Luthor.

He saw Luthor straighten as he saw the hole in the back of the truck and then when his gaze flicked downwards...

Conner saw his eyes narrow slightly, the only tell in the mask.

"Are you telling me that someone hijacked my company's shipment?" Luthor demanded, all worry and outrage -- all of it false; Conner knew better. So did the rest of the team, even if the cops and the media didn't.

The Metropolis PD were standing around a little uncertainly, and at a thin-mouthed grimace and shake of the head, and a gesture from their Captain, Maggie Sawyer, slowly lowered their weapons.

The man in Conner's arms started to cough, and Superboy helped him sit mostly upright as he painfully cleared his lungs.

Luthor started to stride forward, but was body-blocked by Red Arrow.

"If you'll excuse me--"

"I won't," Roy gritted out.

"--I'd like to check on the man--"

"--like hell I'd let you--"

"--because I most certainly have an vested interest in him--"

"--if anyone does, then it's--!"

"Red Arrow, stop!" Conner cut him off before he could go any further.

"Damn it, Superboy--" he said, turning, and then he went white at the sight of the man he was cradling in his arms. "--What the hell?" he whispered.

Superboy grimaced and clenched his jaw as he stared up at Luthor.

That had the rest of the team finally turning, many of them doing double-takes. Miss Martian gasped and covered her mouth.

In his arms, Superboy was holding a thinner, black-bodysuit-outfitted, slightly younger version of Lex Luthor.

...Except they really didn't look at all alike.

Luthor stepped closer, saying, "I'd like to hear what he has to say--"

Roy shoved him back several yards.

Luthor's Mercybot revved up and unlocked several of its guns.

The Team tensed.

The younger Lex Luthor's eyes fluttered open as he slowly stirred.

He looked up at Conner and said, vaguely, quietly, "...Clark?"

Conner's eyes went a little wide. "What did you say?"

"What is he--" Luthor demanded, and thank god he hadn't heard.

Lex's eyes cleared a bit, focusing on Conner, and.. he frowned up at Conner in confusion.

"You're not..." he started, and that was about the point that the League landed.

"What's going on here?" Superman demanded, crossing his arms.

"--Sonofabitch," the Lex Luthor in Conner's arms muttered, grimacing and pushing himself upright.

Superman looked over at him and his eyes widened in shock. "You--"

"You bastard--!! Who the hell do you think you are!" the younger Luthor roared at Superman, pointing at him and striding forward.

Luthor looked vaguely smug at the accusation being leveled at his nemesis.

Lex-the-younger got as far as Red Arrow's shoulder before Luthor registered in his vision and he came to a screeching halt and flinched away. "Oh goddamnit, not another fucking clone!" he grated out, throwing his hands up and looking irate as he gave Luthor the once-over.

Luthor went expressionless while the younger Lex crossed his arms and fumed, taking turns _glaring_ at the two of them.

Batman stepped around the side of Superman, and he got included in the glare.

"Don't think I don't see you back there!" the younger Lex called out at the Bat. "You might as well make it easy on yourselves and tell me who you, your 'friend', and that raven-haired woman," he gestured at Diana, "are working for now, and save everyone some trouble." He smiled nastily. "Believe me, you'll want someone talking Superman down when he arrives."

Superman was looking blank, then horribly taken aback, and most of the police force just stared at him like he was a lunatic.

"Er, _that's_ Superman," Wally pointed out to the younger Luthor.

Lex just frowned at him and said, "Don't be ridiculous; that's not him."

"...It ...isn't?" Wally said, sounding a little weirded out.

"No, of course not!" Lex said, sounding exasperated. "For one thing, his suit's all wrong. Not to mention that he doesn't look anything _like_ the man," he said with disgust and an imperial gesture at said offender. "Haven't you ever seen him up close before?" he asked Wally curiously.

Robin did an audible facepalm. ::Agh, not clones -- alternate Earths!::

"Alternate Earths?" Conner asked out loud, then shrugged as Lex turned to frown at him.

"Um, sorry, I think maybe there's been a misunderstanding--" Miss Martian started, and blinked at the 'what the fuck?' look Lex momentarily directed her way when he got a good look at her, before he blinked and seemed to shrug it off.

"Problem?" Conner said, crossing his arms.

"Not at all," Lex said smoothly. "She's a very _lovely_ shade of green." A slight pause, as he turned back to M'gann, then he added, addressing her directly: "Green's my favorite color, next to purple."

Conner blinked at him and M'gann turned slightly red.

::Wow, did he just hit on your girlfriend?:: Wally asked. ::Dude -- uncool!::

::Shut up, Wally,:: Artemis said, punctuating it with a smack to the back of his head.

Lex glanced around at the silence, then said, "...Am I missing something?"

Robin took a deep breath and sighed. "There are many Earths," he started, "Short version? We think you're probably on the wrong one, because that--" he pointed at Kal-El, "is Superman, and yes, we would know, and he isn't working for anyone, but there was a window where some of the League was being mindcontrolled about three months back," he ended far more quietly.

Lex frowned and glanced around at the cameras, far enough away to not have heard that at such a low volume, and then stepped back into their circle, opening his mouth to--

"Superman and the League were brainwashed? By whom? When?" Luthor repeated loudly, projecting. "What else did they do besides kidnap you from your Earth, do you know?"

The League and the Team tensed as the background murmuring started.

The younger Lex... _flinched_.

And then his eyes narrowed and he turned back slowly.

He folded his hands behind his back, lightly cleared his throat, strode back out of the circle again, and faced Luthor directly.

"I've really no idea," he started. "I remember being taken and then blacking out. --How long were they mindcontrolled for, did you say?" he turned and asked Robin.

"...Sixteen hours," Robin supplied.

"Ah, I see," Lex said.

"Sixteen hours--?!" Luthor began, raising his voice in incredulous tones.

"--And how long ago did this occur, thereabouts, do you know?" Lex interrupted.

"Three months," Robin supplied a little less reluctantly, tilting his head. "December 31’st, 2011."

" _Really,_ " Lex said. "How odd, then, that they seemed to know nothing about my existence or presence here. I suppose this must mean that they handed me off to whomever had been controlling them at the time before those hours desisted, and cannot remember what occurred. --That, is, if they are believed to be competent enough to have handled a kidnapping effectively?"

"Well, yeah--" Wally said. "I mean, they're the League, and some of the most powerful members--"

"Oh, so the most powerful members were compromised--"

"--and how do you know all this?" Lex overrode Luthor again, seeming to blatantly ignore him. "Were you there?" he asked Robin, with eyebrows raised, and it sounded a little like a leading question...

Robin started to smirk slightly. "Actually, yeah, we were. We were the ones who broke the tech and freed them from Vandal Savage's influence."

"Oh, I see," Lex said with a smile, straightening slightly.

::What the hell, Robin?:: Wally asked.

::He's helping,:: Robin said with a smug mental voice. ::He's actually-- just wait for it!::

Conner raised an eyebrow at Robin, because it was weird how excited he sounded all of a--

"So, in other words, your separate team rather competently executed a failsafe procedure to free the League from undue influence in less than twenty-four hours, as no doubt they would do the same for you, having planned for such contingencies prior to their temporary subversion," Lex said smoothly. "Would I be correct in assuming that you have updated your security and plans such that the previous occurrence cannot happen again?"

"Yes," Robin grinned. "But we'd rather not go into the details on that."

"Perfectly understandable from an operational security standpoint," Lex agreed, turning to face Luthor again. "I suppose you then have an explanation for your own incompetence?"

Luthor looked like he'd been slapped in the face. "I beg your pardon?"

"Not granted," Lex said just as smoothly. "I wonder how very _little_ you must pay attention to your company's dealings, if you were truly so very unaware of my kidnapping and subsequent 'export' and shuffling about under _your_ company's banner and direction," he said, sweeping his hand behind him at the fairly-destroyed long trailer with the still-prominent LexCorp logo on the side. "How odd, that you seem content to act as a figurehead for your own LexCorp; I certainly am not. But perhaps there are far more differences between us than I am aware of -- tell me, do you even own your own company?"

::Oh, ouch!:: Robin thought gleefully, with a bout of mental laughter.

::...Is this bad?:: Conner asked tentatively.

::Oh, man, way more than whelming!:: Robin added. ::This is like the takedown of the century, right here! This guy is _dangerous!_ :: he laughed.

:::--Dangerous is a _good_ thing for a Luthor to be?:: he asked in a mental aside to M'gann.

::...I guess?:: He got a mental shrug back from her.

"Yes, I own my own company," Luthor said coldly.

"Well, good for you; I hope it's a controlling share as mine is," Lex said dismissively. "Was this supposed to be a common shipment or from a particular facility -- do you at least know that much?" he asked derisively.

Luthor squared his shoulders, suddenly seeming very aware of the cameras and directional microphones on him. "Yes, of course I do," he said with a tight-lipped smile.

"Care to enlighten the rest of us?" Lex asked.

"It's an internal affair. I'd rather not tip off--" Luthor started with a smarmy, superior smile.

"--in other words, you have no idea." Lex cut him off. "An internal affair implies that others outside your company are not involved, which is patently false, as I am so far outside your company's influence that I'm literally from another planet," he ended. "And I _very_ much doubt there's anything left to not tip off, given that we're being broadcast live over the news," he added, waving a hand at the camera crews transfixed on them.

Then Lex got a flash-of-brilliance look, a little like Wally sometimes got before he did something chemical that involved pranks that sometimes ended in explosions, and definitely other irate team members. "Ah, but I suppose if you really don't know anything about your own company's dealings, I shouldn't be wasting my time with _you_ at all," he said sweetly. "Why don't I just ask the media -- _surely_ they know more than _you_ must!"

Robin's mental laughter again echoed down the link. ::--Oh, _burn!_ ::

And then Lex turned away, _dismissing_ him, and started to walk right over to the camera crew crowd with a glowing smile and addressed them directly, "I don't suppose any of you might know anything about this unfortunate mishap that you'd be willing to share to help me track down those truly responsible for my abduction and ferrying about?"

Luthor looked like he'd swallowed a lemon. His face twisted up in a visage of pure anger as he reached out and grabbed the younger Lex's arm, hard.

Lex was jerked back, but his look of shocked surprise at being manhandled didn't last long. He turned and tried to wrench his arm away, proclaiming, "What are you--"?!

"You are _not_ going over there!" Luthor hissed under his breath, leaning forward menacingly. Luthor had practically twice the alternate-Earth Lex's bulk, even if they were about the same height.

"Hey..." Wally said, starting to step forward. Conner tensed, and he felt M'gann's worry come down the link.

"Release me!" Lex demanded with a frown.

"I will _not_ , you--"

At which point Lex went completely expressionless, pulled back his free right arm, and slugged Luthor with a hammerblow to the temple, hard.

Luthor went down like a sack of wet sand.

More than a few mouths dropped open at the sight. ...It _had_ been a very clean and professional takedown.

"Keep your hands to yourself, you ill-mannered cretin," Lex said thinly and derisively under his breath as he shook out his fist, and then he turned and tensed, grimly taking a fighting pose as the Mercybot whirred menacingly and advanced, all guns trained on him.

Conner sped around him and smashed the thing to pieces with one solid blow.

It bounced three times before it wrapped itself around a tree.

When Conner turned back to ask if Lex was ok, he nearly flinched at the look of absolute shock on the man's face.

::...Did I do something wrong?:: he asked the others.

::No, Superboy. I believe that he is simply surprised that you helped him,:: Aqualad said after a beat.

::That _anybody_ would help him, you mean,:: Roy piped in, conveying the vague feeling down the link that he'd seen this sort of reaction before. ::He's probably not that far off,:: he added, frowning over at the League, who were conversing in small groups, eyeing the rest of them from a distance. ::I didn't see any of _them_ even twitch.::

::There's the eight of us!:: Conner exclaimed, glancing around at Rocket, Miss Martian, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Robin, Red Arrow, and Artemis.

::Whether we _would_ help him isn't the issue, Superboy -- he just didn't _think_ we would,:: Robin said, sounding a little odd.

::But why would he think we wouldn't help him?:: M'gann asked, sounding worried.

::Perhaps he is not used to others lending him a hand,:: Aqualad supplied. ::It can sometimes be difficult to trust, as we all know,:: he ended on a lower tone, which the core group understood all too well.

::But we're superheroes, the good guys!:: Rocket, the newer member, added in.

::Maybe they don't have many superheroes where he's from,:: Wally suggested.

Conner crossed his arms and started as he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to face Lex.

"...Thank you for your assistance," Lex said, sounding odd. Not quite completely grateful, but almost... worried?

"Sure," Superboy shrugged. "...Are you ok?"

The younger Luthor blinked at him. "Yes," he said after a pause. "I believe so. --Will you be?"

It was Conner's turn to blink at him. "Uh, yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

Lex's eyes slid over to the KO'd Luthor, prone on the ground. "He doesn't seem like the type to shrug off someone breaking one of his favorite toys."

::Huh,:: thought Conner. "I'll be fine; we stick together on stuff like this, and it's not like he knows where I live," he smirked. "I'm more worried about _you_ cold-clocking him."

He felt a little tug of warmth inside at the almost blinding grin he got from the younger Luthor. "Well, it's a dirty and thankless job, but someone had to do it," he said, sounding amused, almost like he was teasing.

"I really _do_ think it worth my time to pick the brains of the mass media, though," Lex said. After a pause, he added, "I'll be back in a bit, all right?" and patted him on the shoulder before moving off again.

Conner nodded, and didn't really understand why he felt better when Lex told him that he'd be back. He was a Luthor, right? Shouldn't he want him gone as badly as the other one?

He listened in as Lex greeted the media up close and personal with a light self-deprecating smile and a "Some people just don't know how to take 'no' for an answer, do they?" which drew a round of stifled laughter.

::--Conner, you with us?:: he heard Wally ask through the link.

::Uh, sorry, yeah,:: he said. ::Just...:: He glanced over at M'gann. ::Did I miss anything?::

::You weren't--?:: M'gann bit her lip slightly. ::No, not really,:: she ended.

They got back to their discussion about the odd turn of events, what it might mean when it came to the goals -- and the reach -- of the Light, and tried to figure out a way to not have been forced back to square one yet _again_ at trying to track down the original Speedy.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"I think I've thoroughly exhausted what they know for now, and they, me," Lex supplied under his breath as he walked back up to Conner. "Would you like me to share my conclusions?"

"Sure," Robin piped up. ::Let's get away from the group a bit,:: he added, starting to walk around the side, back to Sphere and the two extra motorcycles they'd put in the back of Super Cycle, just in case.

The League had discussed things with the police, and unflinchingly talked with the media after Lex had gotten done with them. Luthor's helicopter crew had retrieved him, but if the silence from the heli was any indication, he was still out cold.

Lex followed along casually in the middle of the pack, listing all the facts and the details of what he had gathered from whom, and then the conclusions he drew from them.

"It basically comes down to your Luthor being completely incompetent -- which I find highly doubtful, given that he's been in charge of an expanding multinational corportation, which he built himself from the ground-up, for so long -- or willfully looking the other way," Lex ended. "No manager would purchase such a high-risk investment, known to be so controversial -- openly-so by the public -- and not spend a great deal of time looking into every aspect of the company to find and defuse all possible PR landmines, or expose them and claim the credit for doing so, blaming the mistakes on the previous management during the grace period of early-ownership -- or otherwise bury those mistakes so deeply they never see the light of day." He frowned. "He's had known majority ownership of the research lab for at least a year. This was a rookie mistake, putting my physical transfer through like this so sloppily -- no offense."

Conner could feel the mental twitching from the others; it was making his head itch. "How do you know about all this?"

Lex shot him an amused look. "I've purchased a good number of failing businesses before; I have experience in making them profitable. This generally involves fixing things."

::Non-answer,:: Robin supplied. ::He's totally done hidden-enterprise projects before.::

:: _Evil_ enterprise, you mean,:: Wally put in, scoffing.

::Perhaps,:: Aqualad agreed. ::But not all alternate-Earth Luthors are evil; the League files indicate otherwise.::

::Woah, woah -- a Lex Luthor that's not evil?! You're blowing my mind here, Kaldur!:: Wally protested.

"So, is it subvocal communicators, telepathy, or some other technological variant on shared brainwaves?" Lex asked.

"...What?" Conner said.

"How you're all communicating nonverbally," Lex elaborated briefly.

They all shared glances.

"...It isn't obvious?" Lex asked dubiously.

"I... guess not?" Wally put out there, shrugging to the others when he got glared at.

"Do you want me to bring you into the loop?" Miss Martian asked.

"No, no," Lex declined with a slight smile and a wave of his hand. "I've had enough people messing about with my brain for a lifetime, thank you."

"You've had people mess around with your brain?" Conner asked, both curious and worried.

"Mm, well, in the interest of full disclosure..." he sighed and ran a hand over his skull. "Since it's not as though anyone back home doesn't know at least the broad strokes -- I was subjected to a neurotoxin recently. I have no memory of anything prior to the last six months." He frowned. "Or rather, the last nine months now, I suppose, and a recent three-month gap from all this," he sighed.

Everyone stared at him.

"...Is this a problem?" he asked.

"You... lost your memory, and you're _okay_ with this?" Miss Martian asked him.

He frowned slightly. "Of course not," he replied, "but there's really nothing I can do about it. I've looked into the drug that was used on me; I've had tests done, MRI studies, the lot of it," he waved a hand. "They tell me my mind's a clean slate. There's nothing left to retrieve."

"What about magic?" Rocket piped up.

Lex blinked at her. "And lose my memory the next time someone else pulls an abracadabra on me and de-spells the spell?" He shook his head. "I'm not even sure if they _have_ spells for that, or what the interactions or limitations might be. Surly there must be _some_ scientific basis for it, not just waving a magic wand and making a wish."

"That’s what I said!" Wally proclaimed, throwing up his arms. "--Uh, I mean the scientific... yeah, whatever," he stopped at the glares he was getting from some of the girls.

"But some spells are permanent; they can't be de-spelled, really, they just do whatever and are done -- like healing spells." M'gann said. "Have you talked to anyone about it?" M'gann pressed.

"A witch or some practitioner, you mean?" Lex frowned at her. "They aren't exactly thick on the ground where I'm from, and admittedly I don't trust the ones I do know enough to ask, let alone have try. It's my understanding that they tend to do what they want, when they want, and to hell with the rest of us."

"Zatanna isn't like that -- I'm sure she'd be able to help you!" Miss Martian enthused. "Or, um, at least talk it out, if she can't help..." she backtracked, realizing that she was signing her friend up for something without her say-so.

"...I suppose it wouldn't hurt to ask, if she felt inclined to answer a few questions," Lex said diplomatically.

"Great!" Miss Martian said. "I'll talk to her for you!"

"Thank you," Lex returned.

::The guy says thank you -- do evil guys say thank you?:: Wally asked.

::Wally!:: Artemis scolded.

::What? It's a legitimate question -- I'm just asking!::

::He said thank you to me for smashing the robot earlier,:: Conner added tentatively.

::Woah -- really?:: Wally said, perking up.

::Perhaps we should reserve judgment and base our interactions with him on our observation of his own actions, rather than bias and conjecture,:: Aqualad suggested maturely, trying to bring sanity back to the discussion.

::Sure thing, fearless leader!:: Wally said with a slightly sarcastic mental salute.

Rocket giggled, and Roy groaned.

"Where are you going?" they all heard as they slowed down, approaching the bikes.

They all looked up at Superman, floating above them, arms crossed.

"Uh, we were gonna hang out by the bikes, and maybe get back home soon?" Wally said, sounding a little unsure as to why they were being questioned.

Wonder Woman floated over, and Conner realized that Lex was frowning, and it was just getting deeper and deeper.

"I don't think--" Diana started casually.

"Were you two born in a barn?" Lex snapped.

Diana frowned down at him, angry at the interruption.

Clark, though, he looked... alarmed.

"Excuse me?" Diana said.

"I'll be happy to, as soon as you both touch down," Lex said peevishly. "Have you no manners?" He ignored the demigoddess' glare. "Not all of us are superpowered, and _are_ prone to getting a crick in the neck attempting to stare straight up at the two of you. Are you both so insecure that you feel compelled to posture in such a blatant and overbearing dominant role to attempt to reinforce your alpha positions? Do you simply not care about the discomfort of others? Or are you just completely ignorant of proper social decorum and have no wish to learn?"

"Ouch," Robin muttered.

"Man, 'elbows off the table', times _a thousand_ ," Wally said under his breath.

Superman looked pissed, but Diana looked slightly chastised. She put a hand on Kal-El's shoulder, and they both landed. "My apologies," she said diplomatically, in full Amazon dignitary mode. "That was inconsiderate of us, especially given how we must have acted during your abduction."

Lex eyed them both. "You have my apologies as well," he said after a pause. "If I'd thought either of you receptive to the notion, I would have phrased my objection more civilly as a polite request."

Diana quirked a small smile, but Superman glowered at him.

"I don't trust you, Luthor," Superman said straight out, still towering over him due to his height.

"Nor I, you," Lex replied evenly. "I believe I prefer my Superman better."

" _Your_ Superman?" Kal-El replied, sounding offended and angry, dropping his arms and clenching his fists, taking a step forward.

"Kal!" Diana said.

Lex didn't back down at all. He didn't even blink an eye.

What he _did_ do was cross his own arms and stare up at Superman, thoroughly unimpressed.

"Yes," Lex said. " _My_ Superman. As in, _my_ city, _my_ Earth, _my_ world, _my_ country, _my_ home--"

"You--!"

"-- _my_ annoying little flock of Heroes that I have to deal with on a regular basis for reasons that escape me--"

"Your--?!?" Superman sputtered.

"-- _my_ life--"

"Wait, 'your' planet? You really took over the world?" Wally said, his jaw dropping.

"-- _my_ \--What?" Lex stopped, turned, and stared at Wally in amusement.

...Then he suddenly looked a lot less amused.

"You _must_ be joking," he said flatly.

"Uh..." said Wally, shifting from foot to foot.

Lex stared at him for a long moment.

Then he pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "I have enough difficulty managing several hundred thousand employees. To say that I would _not_ be thrilled at the idea of increasing my responsibilities by more than four orders of magnitude would be a _vast_ understatement."

Conner's eyes widened a bit as he watched all this.

"You can't be serious," Superman said, looking down his nose at Lex.

"I am perfectly serious, I assure you," Lex said, releasing this nose and waving his hand, though still looking like he was getting a headache. "I am just as serious as that boy was." He gestured at Kid Flash.

"You-- you haven't taken over the world because you think you can't _handle_ it?" Superman said, his voice hitting higher tones.

Lex frowned at him.

"I didn't say _that_ ," he replied, looking a little like a pissed off, wet cat. "I--"

...and then he stopped and actually seemed to _consider_ the idea of world domination.

Warning bells went off in Conner's head.

...or maybe that was his other team members freaking out a little through M'gann's mental link.

Then Lex squeezed his eyes shut, shook his head a few times, and reopened them, glancing up at Superman.

"Bad idea," was all he said.

Superman stared at him like he was _out of his flipping mind._

"What? It _is_ ," Lex said. Then he frowned. "...You disagree?" he asked in an odd sort of tone.

"No, it's definitely a bad idea -- _because it's wrong_ ," Superman glared at him.

"Oh, well, morals," Lex waved off. "You can justify _anything_ with those. Be a dear and let us all know when you change your mind and decide to use them as an excuse to start up prison camps and ethnic purges, would you?"

Superman _choked_.

The fact that Lex said what he did in a mild reasonable tone that didn't fit his words _at all_ did _not_ help. Conner _heard_ some of his other team members wince, and he was pretty sure he hadn't really needed superhearing to do it.

Diana covered her mouth with a hand, but her eyes looked like they were... laughing?

Conner was _really_ confused.

"It's not funny!" Superman told her, and oh wow, he hadn't been the only one to notice?

"I'm sorry Kal, I just..." she tried to wipe the smile away unsuccessfully. "I don't disagree with the Humanist approach, either."

"...Ah, well, technically I'm a lapsed Catholic, so I suppose that would be religious humanism in my case," Lex said, with a slight cough of embarrassment.

That had Diana grinning at him, and he looked even more embarrassed, giving her back a small smile almost helplessly in response.

"Don't encourage him!" Superman hissed at Diana, turning red.

Lex bit his lip and looked like he was trying not to laugh.

"But what if I want to?" Wonder Woman said oh-so-innocently. That sent Superman sputtering again, and Lex's eyes lit up. Wonder Woman winked at him.

And then she surreptitiously winked at Conner.

"If you three are done sniping at each other?" Batman said, edging up behind Robin, along with Red Tornado, Martian Manhunter, and Captain Marvel.

"Hi guys!" Captain Marvel said. "Hey -- nice costume!" he said to Lex.

Lex blinked at him, got a blank look, then looked down at himself and the sleek all-black bodysuit he was wearing.

Then he looked back up at Captain Marvel and deadpanned, "Thank you, but it isn't mine."

"Oh. Uh, okay," Captain Marvel responded, looking a little confused, then he brightened again as he saw "Rockeeeeet!!!" and gave her a jubilant high-five, which she obligingly returned with a welcoming grin.

Lex tilted his head and pursed his lips slightly, considering the Captain, then got a quirky smile like he'd figured something out.

::Please tell me he didn't just figure out Captain Marvel's a ten-year-old just by watching him for five seconds,:: Wally groaned.

Artemis rolled her eyes at him and punched him in the arm.

::Ow!:: he complained.

"We need to debrief you on your abduction, and discuss your stay here on this Earth."

"Translation: tell us everything we don't remember so we can not believe you, and then we can feel good about tossing your villainous ass in a hole," Artemis muttered.

She winced as Batman turned and looked at her like he heard her.

"...I have a villainous ass?" Lex said, glancing over his shoulder at his backside. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Because that sounds like a good kind of bad thing," he deadpanned again, pretending not to hear Rocket and Artemis crack up to his side.

Red Arrow even looked a little amused.

Superman sure wasn't.

"I do not understand," Red Tornado said. "Is it possible for single body parts of a human to be considered capable of acts of good or evil?"

Lex turned and looked at the robot sideways.

"No," Lex said. "Generally not. If a mind is one thing, it dictates the rest."

"Oh," Red Tornado said. "This was an attempt at humor?"

"No, this _was_ humor," Lex smiled. "Case-in-point -- their positive reaction," he said, pointing at the 'offenders'.

"I see," Red Tornado droned thoughtfully.

"So," Lex clapped his hands together. "Could we start with introductions? I'm not entirely sure that my world has analogues for you all -- not yet, anyway. Not that I'm aware of."

This, of course, led to a round of introductions -- Miss Martian -- "there are Martians here?" -- Kid Flash -- "not Flash?" "no, Flash is somebody else" "hm" -- Robin -- "you work with Batman?" -- Artemis -- "not Mia?" "..." "my apologies, that was rude of me -- please continue" -- Red Arrow -- "...any relation to Green Arrow?" "no!" "good" "..." -- Superboy -- "..." -- Rocket -- "I make force bubbles" "how?" "um... dunno?" "..." -- Aqualad -- "know anyone named Aquaman who likes wearing orange?" "yes, he is my liege, the King of Atlantis" "..." -- Wonder Woman -- "Diana of Themiscyra?" "you've met my alternate?" "no, but I've heard good things" -- Batman -- "Batman?" "yes" "really? Batman?" "...yes" "...no offense, but I've heard mention of my Batman being a psychotic bullying lunatic, but you seem rather-- ...that wasn't what you were expecting me to say at all, was it?" "no" -- Martian Manhunter -- "you hunt martian men?" "..." -- Red Tornado -- "what language were you programmed in?" "...I do not feel comfortable discussing my programming parameters with you" "...right, sorry" -- Superman --

"You're Kryptonian."

"Yes."

"Kryptonian."

"Yes."

Lex twitched a few times.

"Is there a problem?" Kal-El asked, looking at him askance.

"Yes. No. I just-- need a moment," Lex got out, sounding strangled as he ducked his head and stated massaging his temples.

"...You didn't know your Superman was Kryptonian?" Wally asked.

At the withering glare he leveled at Wally, Conner assumed that was a 'no'.

" _Seriously??_ " Wally all-but-laughed at him. "You know what Kryptonians are--"

"Yes," Lex hissed out.

"--but it never occurred to you--"

"--that Superman was one? _No._ " he said flat-out. "That sort of thing does seem like it ought to be something to be shared rather clearly and transparently by someone who is supposedly so very truthful with the media, though, doesn't it?" he said in a very scathing tone. "But then, _most_ people wouldn't know to ask the question, because _most_ people don't know that Kryptonians exist, let alone what bits of madness they're responsible for _on my planet_ ," he gritted out.

"But to answer your question more directly, Kid Flash," he rattled out, " _no_ , I did _not_ consider the possibility that my Superman was a Kryptonian, because generally he does not go around _murdering large numbers of human beings and destroying everything in his path_. And trust me, _I would know_."

" _Most_ aliens that visit my Earth are deadly and destructive, and have no qualms about setting about inflicting just that on the populace." He kept rubbing at his temples, and looked like his headache was getting worse. "I say 'most' because I cannot claim to have known 'all' of the strange visitors Earth may have ever received, and my Superman has enough of a temper that I cannot entirely discount the possibility that he may simply snap someday."

"That's horrible!" M'gann said, looking horror-struck.

"It's _possible_ ," Lex countered mildly. "He puts himself forward as being entirely honest when he is not, and he is somewhat of a hypocrite. --No, I am not only talking about 'the Kryptonian thing', I'm going to have to verify that first-hand before I believe it," he muttered.

"Possible, but how likely?" Batman asked neutrally, ignoring Superman's reaction.

"I've honestly no idea; I haven't had that many interactions with him to-date," Lex admitted. "I've pushed him a bit, now and again, to test his reactions, and he hasn't done anything worse than human; he's actually rather controlled -- which is a little scary to think, given how prone he is to outbursts at times." He sighed.

" _Test his reactions?!?_ " Superman spat out angrily.

"See, now, I can't even have a civil conversation for a significant length of time with this one, either!" he sighed again, gesturing at him.

"Civil conversation -- since when is firing lasers at somebody's head 'civil conversation'?!?"

Lex blinked at him.

He opened his mouth... then closed it again.

Then he said, "You... have... a contract with your Luthor to test lasers for him?"

"No!"

"You... let Luthor test lasers on you... for free?"

"NO!!!"

This Lex Luthor looked like he was somehow having trouble wrapping his brain around the concept of...

"Luthor has several high-powered lasers mounted on the roofs of his buildings," Batman supplied.

"He-- what?" Lex said, glancing over at Batman and blinking.

And then he lit up looking really excited. "Oh, a defensive grid! That's--" he looked absolutely ecstatic!

\--for all of two seconds, until his eyes dimmed and his shoulders slumped. "--Wait, how would that even _work?_ " he said, looking a little taken aback. "The energy cost would be _enormous_ to produce a beam strong enough to cause much damage at any real distance, not to mention the diffusion problems in bad weather. Besides, the zoning commission would be _screaming_ about firing the things over or onto other people's property; lasers don't just _stop_ \--"

"--well, yeah, but you could use a couple of them and focus a few of them on a single point--" Wally piped up, because science was his _thing_.

"--yes, but that would require an _ungodly_ amount of synchronization and precision and those physical systems would move _far_ more slowly trying to track Superman at speed than he can duck and roll -- that's apparent even from the newsfilms," Lex frowned. "And he could just laser-eye-beam the gimbal systems and rotating platforms from a distance and weld them in place," he added, waving at Superman absently. "And I couldn't build the things to be able to rotate lower than being able to fire at a certain plane above the nearby buildings to clear the rooftops, at the very least, or the insurance companies would never allow their installation. -- _All_ line-of-sight, because even a low-attentuation remnant of the original beam would be unacceptable," he muttered. "And even if all _that_ was worked out, what the hell happens when he or some other flyboy decides to get smart and tote a titanium-mirrored parabolic dish along with them, and redirect the damn beam in whatever direction they want? I could be aiding and abetting in property destruction, possibly my own!"

::Oh my _god_ :: he heard Artemis think, like a supplicant hearing a master speak ancient wisdom.

Wonder Woman was hiding a smile again.

Rocket was giggling; Marvel was looking a little confused, like duh, this was all common sense stuff with the wisdom of Solomon; and it sounded like Robin was having trouble keeping a straight face.

::He's... he's not a supervillain because it's not _practical_ ,:: Robin choked out over their link.

::Dude, he thinks lasers are _cool_ , or he wouldn't even be thinking about it,:: Wally put in. ::We've got to-- ok, wait, lemme ask first,:: "Hey, what do you think about explosions?"

Lex blinked at him for the out of the blue question. "...They're enjoyable?" he said. "--in controlled settings," he added belatedly. "Explosions _outside_ of controlled settings tend to be less enjoyable because of the screaming neighbors and the police and all of the accompanying paperwork afterwards," he said, pulling a face.

::M'gann, is he serious?:: Wally asked.

::...I think so?::

::Ok, it's official, we _have_ to recruit this guy,:: Wally said, ::totally flat-out not joking here. Dude likes science, lasers, and explosions -- that's the trifecta, right there. Let's go. Who's with me?::

Rocket giggled again, and said, ::I'm in!::

::Uh, guys, I think there might be more to not being a villain than liking science?:: Captain Marvel said.

::That's ok, we can reform him. Reforming villains is a superhero thing, right? Right?:: Wally enthused.

::He... doesn't seem _that_ bad...:: M'gann put in.

::At the very least, we could introduce him as an auxiliary member and keep an eye on him,:: Aqualad offered.

::We'd have to be upfront about that if we did,:: Artemis insisted. ::And give him a real chance. Trust me, nobody likes being distrusted -- it'll drive you right over onto the other side if somebody does it long enough. You have no idea how hard it was--::

::It's ok, sweet pea -- you're our resident expert, we'll go with what you say,:: Wally said, hugging her.

::...Sweet pea?:: Robin thought with quiet amusement.

::Shut up!:: both Artemis and Wally thought at him.

:::Robin?:: Aqualad queried.

::Well, somebody's gonna have to deal with him, might as well be us?::

::Roy?:: Aqualad asked next.

::I'm not exactly the best person to be asking, considering I was a mole.::

Aqualad sighed, but let it go. ::...Conner?::

Conner thought for a moment to himself. ::I'm ok with it,:: he said.

::Are you sure?:: Robin asked.

::Yes,:: he said. ::I mean... this might sound crazy but... he doesn't remind me of Luthor.::

::Yeah, I get that,:: Robin said.

::--Is something wrong, Robin?:: Aqualad asked.

::...Not exactly,:: he admitted. ::It's just a... weird feeling? It's just that... well, the way he's been acting...::

"--what do you mean, Metropolis is in New York?" Lex blurted out.

He garnered a few stares and was asked by Batman, "Where is your Metropolis?"

"Kansas, of course," Lex informed them, frowning. "Where the hell else would it be? --Oh, wait, _New York_ ," he drew out sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. "Really, pull the other-- you're actually serious," he ended flatly. "What the hell happened? Did it get up and wander off? Do cities do that here?" he started sarcastically, then got a horrified look like he was starting to wonder if they _actually did that_.

"Metropolis has always been in New York," Superman cut in.

Lex frowned at him. " _Why?_ " he asked. "God, next you'll be telling me Gotham is in New York, too!" he snorted.

"Connecticut, actually," Batman told him.

"...You're kidding," Lex said flatly.

"What, is your Gotham in Kansas, too?" Captain Marvel asked.

"...Yes."

"Really?"

Lex sighed.

"I shudder to think what implications this must have on the differing histories and timelines between our worlds," Lex supplied, rubbing at his temples again.

"Would you mind answering a personal question?" Wonder Woman asked, watching him intently.

"Certainly, though I reserve the right not to answer," he replied.

"When did you start LexCorp?"

"Ah, that's... a bit of a sticky question," Lex said. "I rebranded it a few months ago, but the original LexCorp was started back in mid-2002, before it was folded back into LuthorCorp."

::...LuthorCorp?:: Robin echoed, looking up.

"Who ran LuthorCorp?" Diana asked.

"My father, Lionel Luthor," Lex supplied.

"And when did LuthorCorp start?"

"Decades ago, before I was born," Lex told them. "My father made a deal with Morgan Edge -- he took out a huge life insurance policy on his parents, Morgan killed them, and they split the insurance money. He used it to fund his college education and used the rest as seed money to start LuthorCorp. Edge did similar for his own business, but the majority of his dealings were under the table on the wrong side of the law -- he ran Intergang for years. My father tended to stick to more legitimate business dealings most of the time, and went to Edge when he needed strong-arming done."

"He got away with it?!" Rocket said, sounding shocked.

"More or less," Lex shrugged. "I found out about it well after the fact, and had help getting him tried and convicted for it. He went to jail and was even on death row, but it wasn't six months before the corrupt mayor pardoned him."

"Is he still alive?" Batman asked.

"No," Lex said. "He fell forty stories out of LuthorCorp Towers about four years ago, now."

"...That doesn't seem odd to you?" Wonder Woman asked him.

"Should it?"

:::He doesn't sound sad about it at all,:: Miss Martian said, sounding shocked.

::He doesn't remember him,:: Wally pointed out, ::and the guy sounds like a tool.::

::...Are we sure he's telling the truth?:: Rocket asked.

::He doesn't seem to be lying,:: Captain Marvel said.

::But if he doesn't remember... someone could have lied to _him_ ,:: Robin pointed out.

"What do you remember about the night in question?" Batman asked in his interrogation voice.

Lex's eyes narrowed. "Very little. But I was interviewed and questioned by the Metropolis PD. They had no issue with my statements, and they suspected no foul play or wrongdoing."

::'Very little'?:: Robin spoke up.

::I guess that's one way of putting it...:: Wally said.

::Why isn't he telling the League what he told us?:: Rocket asked.

::...He trusts us more than the League?:: Miss Martian said.

They all glanced at her.

"What he's leaving out is that he doesn't remember, because he doesn't have any memories before nine months ago," Superman added, crossing his arms.

There was a pause.

"Thank you, Superman, for making it _crystal_ clear _exactly_ how little you value the privacy of others," Lex drawled out, leveling a long stare at the alien. "It's good to know how _low_ someone can sink into mannerless depravity -- I _do_ believe I shall appreciate my Superman's behavior _far_ more, if ever I manage to make my way back home again."

"You've been talking about past events like you know them," Wonder Woman pointed out ruthlessly.

"I've been stating facts on events that were confirmed by _multiple_ sources that I _personally_ vetted, most of them official -- I'm not an overly, _blindly_ trusting _fool_ ," Lex hissed back angrily. "I _do_ know them! --Quite possibly _better_ than _most!_ " he spat out. "Frankly, I'm surprised you haven't called me a liar flat-out to my face yet, since nothing I've said can be confirmed without you finding a way to communicate with my Earth to corroborate my story!" he ended, crossing his arms and swaying back on his heels, looking like he was obstinately ready for a fight.

::Wow, Conner, looks like you're not the only one with anger management issues,:: Artemis said blandly.

::...Maybe that's because he kind of _is_ Conner,:: Robin said.

::WHAT??:: they all asked at once, and both Conner and Robin winced at the feedback.

::Ok, look -- if he's telling the truth about the Lionel-killing-his-parents-for-money-to-start-a-business thing?::

::I think so,:: Miss Martian chimed in, and Cpatain Marvel also gave a small nod.

::--Yeah, well, that's a thing that _our_ Lex Luthor was suspected of doing. Same thing with ties to Intergang -- nobody's been able to prove it, but...::

::So, wait, you mean, like the same way Conner is sort-of Lex's kid but not really...:: Wally rambled, trying to wrap his brain around it.

::This is why I was having trouble pinning him down,:: Robin said. ::Our Lex was basically a street kid. This Lex probably grew up a rich kid. There's a big difference in mentality there.::

::But he doesn't remember it,:: Artemis pointed out. ::How much difference can that make?::

::...I probably wouldn't have turned out so great if Luthor was raising me,:: Conner said slowly. ::Maybe it's a good thing he doesn't remember?::

They all looked at each other, and then Wally yelled out, "DIBS!!!"

The adults all looked startled.

"What?" Superman and Lex said in unison, then frowned at each other.

"We call dibs on Lex," Wally said, crossing his arms and looking smug. "We get him on our team."

"Luthor isn't joining the League!" Superman said, sounding offended.

"Of _course_ I'm not joining the damn Justice League!" Lex rounded on him, sounding utterly disgusted at the notion. "If you people are even _half_ as insufferable as the ones back home--" he shook his head. "And I am _not_ running about the streets like a lunatic trying to stop crime. I _don't_ enjoy being _shot at_ , and I enjoy _being shot_ even _less!_ "

"That's ok, you can be an auxiliary member of our team," Wally said. "No getting shot at or anything."

Lex turned slowly and eyed him. "Being a full member implies getting shot at?"

"Uh, well, yeah, sometimes?" Wally said.

"...And you are all full members?" Lex added.

"Uh, yeah," Wally said.

Lex looked around at the group of teenagers.

" _How old_ are you?" he said, with what sounded like the beginnings of... anger.

It had the impact of a slap in the face.

::...Thought he'd be different,:: Wally muttered to himself.

"Hey! We just saved your ass!" Artemis shouted out.

"Yes, thank you, I noticed, and I am quite grateful for it!"

"Then what the hell is your problem?" Artemis demanded.

" _Them!_ " Lex said, gesturing at the adults to the side. "Since when do responsible, capable adults need to rely on teenagers to clean up their messes for them?!"

Conner felt a little shock come down the line from Robin and Aqualad.

"How is it, _exactly_ ," Lex continued, rounding on the League members, "That _they_ are the ones who are successfully filling in _your_ missing time? Why aren't you?"

Conner started to get a bit of an odd flickering warm feeling.

"That's not--"

Lex sliced his hand through the air, silencing Superman. "Don't! Is human trafficking considered acceptable in this day and age? Were you even _aware_ of this shipment taking place? Did you care? Or was this something they found out completely on their own initiative? --I thought so," he ended in disgusted tones at the look on Superman's face. "And, let me guess, you hadn't _actually_ coordinated any sort of procedures for breaking that mindcontrol over your little group with them prior; they did that on their own initiative and at great risk, as well," he ended, crossing his arms, his voice dripping with contempt.

"We were perfectly capable of--" Aqualad started.

"Your capability is not at issue here, Aqualad," Lex said in aggravated tones. " _Theirs_ is. You are all clearly _more_ than capable of handling things on your own. You simply shouldn't have to."

"Hey, just because we're teenagers--" Wally started to interject.

Lex just rolled his eyes. "Of course it's because you're teenagers -- you aren't adults yet! This isn't your responsibility, and it shouldn't be -- it is theirs! _Because they are the adults._ " He looked at them with frustration. "Learning how to control and use your abilities, and getting shot at on a semi-regular basis, are two _entirely_ different things. No teenagers should be used to fight the battles of adults, no matter _how_ 'grown up' they are. It's despicable, deplorable, and utterly bereft of moral compunction. I'm not sure I even _want_ to know how you people managed to talk their parents into this, or how much threatening, passive or otherwise, may have been involved," he said to the adults. "Do you not have child endangerment laws in this country on this Earth? Is the term 'willful negligence' a foreign concept?"

"Yes, we do. But your belief that we do not care for the children's safety and well-being is concerning," J'onn put forth.

::Dude, he's practically acting like a parent already, and he doesn't even know you're related. You are _so_ screwed,:: Wally directed at Conner.

...But the funny thing was, Conner actually, well, kind of _liked_ the idea.

"So far I haven't seen anything to the contrary. Feel free to convince me otherwise, but somehow I doubt that having them run around getting _shot at_ on a school night is more conductive than having them spend their time on homework."

Conner started to smile slightly.

::Oh yeah, totally hosed,:: Wally said, rolling his eyes. ::Can I take my vote back? I don't want a nagging parent on the team, telling us what we can't do!::

::Auxiliary member,::: Robin pointed out.

::Oh, you're just mad about the banana trick I pulled last week,:: Wally put out there. ::He'd get _you_ for leaving your utility belt lying around!::

::I don't do that!:: Robin protested.

::Well, I don't want another adult looking over our shoulders, either,:: Artemis said. ::Black Canary's ok, I guess, but she's only around sometimes. I don't want to feel stressed out every time I show up on base, worried about getting jumped by somebody who's gonna lecture me about how they think what I'm doing is wrong when I think it's right. I come to Happy Harbor to get away from stuff at home sometimes, to destress, not get yelled at!::

::Ok, so the League gets him a house to stay at in town,:: Robin said reasonably, with a mental shrug. ::I doubt they'd be happy with the idea of a Luthor poking around the mountain with access to all that League tech, anyway, on top of what we think.::

Conner... actually kind of liked the sound of that. He wouldn't mind having Lex around.

He got a questioning glance from Miss Martian, and looked away. He was just glad she hadn't transmitted that feeling to the others.

"--I said no," Lex repeated. "I don't trust you people. I am _not_ going _anywhere_ with you, to be subjected to any battery of tests, or mental assault."

"That's not what we said--" Diana protested.

"--No, that's 'just' what you were _planning_ on _doing_ ," Lex shot back.

"Is there some reason for you not to want us to scan you?" Superman challenged, crossing his arms and beginning to float slightly.

Lex turned, looked him straight in the eye, and said, "Yes."

Superman looked about to argue, then paused, completely taken aback.

Most of the League members in the general vicinity tensed.

Lex squared his shoulders, tilted his head upwards, and glared at the lot of them.

"...Are you going to elaborate?" Batman asked, carefully neutral.

"No," Lex said, crossing his arms.

"You--" Superman said angrily, clenching his fists.

Conner wasn't sure how Lex did it, but he shifted slightly and suddenly seemed to be practically _radiating_ menace.

Diana straightened. Superman's eyes widened.

Batman said, "Fine."

There was a pause.

Lex turned his head to look at Batman.

After a few tense seconds, Lex nodded once, and the menacing air seemed to slowly fade.

::...What the hell was _that?_ :: Rocket asked the rest of them, sounding a little freaked out.

::Dude, that guy isn't... I mean, is he for real?:: Wally laughed shakily. ::He's just a _guy_. He can't take on the League. He doesn't even have superpowers!::

::Hey, Artemis, me, and Roy are all 'just guys' and we helped take down the League when they were being mindcontrolled. And Green Arrow and Batman are 'just guys' and they're _in_ the League!:: Robin protested.

::But geez, you guys have equipment and plans and things. He's in cloth pajamas -- he's got nothing,:: Wally pointed out.

::There are more types of power than brute force, Kid Flash,:: Aqualad said.

::Well, what's _he_ got, then, that'd freak the League out?:: Wally demanded.

::Information,:: Conner said quietly, crossing his arms.

::Yeah? Like what?:: Wally scoffed.

::I think he knows who Superman is.::

Surprise and shock came down the line, and he winced before M'gann toned it down.

::Sorry, Conner, I--::

::It's fine,:: he told M'gann. ::Just... maybe break me out of the loop, please?::

::Sure,:: she said, and dropped him out. He got the feeling from her that she understood about him wanting to keep what he knew -- Superman's identity -- a secret, and that she wouldn't pry.

"I'll come with you," Conner said, stepping up next to Lex.

Lex glanced over at him in surprise, while some of the other League members exchanged glanced or frowned. "Superboy--?"

"You're more worried about being alone with them doing whatever they want, than anything else, right?" Conner said. "But you were missing for three months and can't remember anything. You might have just been kept unconscious, but they could've done things to your head, too," Conner pointed out, and Lex frowned at him. "You're also from another Earth, and that usually means needing to get checked for viruses and colds and things, and maybe quarantine for a week or two if there's something pretty bad -- but that's not normal. They can runs the scans and delete the data right away -- they can set them up to only show certain types of results, too, not the whole thing, if you're worried about privacy." That had Lex almost looking thoughtful.

Then Conner paused and added, "I should probably get checked out, too, anyway -- I was the one who went into the trailer for you, and some of that liquid splashed onto me; who knows what was in it? I could go through all the same tests as you do, if that'll make you feel better about it?"

"You don't have to do that--" Lex said quietly.

"Conner--" Superman protested, along with a few of his teammates.

Lex glanced up at Superman, then over at the team, and then said, not very loudly, "...I was under the impression that not all of you seem to know each other outside of 'hero work'; am I wrong?"

Superman looked startled, then almost caught out.

Conner didn't even bother to wince. "No, it's just that everybody here knows who I am."

Lex gave him a long, not quite measuring look.

"What would you like me to call you?" he asked, finally.

Conner felt himself blush a little. "Superboy for missions around other people; Conner when I'm not wearing the S-shield."

"...All right," Lex said. "You can call me Lex if you like."

"That's ok?" Conner asked.

"I prefer it when friends call me 'Lex'," Lex said, tilting his head slightly. "It's certainly more pleasant than having 'Luthor!' belted out at me, and it feels odd when anyone other than an employee or a reporter calls me 'Mr. Luthor'," he ended with a faint smile.

"...Does it feel odd when people who are employees or reporters call you 'Mr. Luthor', too?" Conner commented, not quite poking fun at him.

When Lex gave him a smirk back for his trouble, Conner didn't need M'gann's telepathy to know that his friends were a little shocked that Lex was giving him the same look that Conner sometimes gave others.

But then he got a more serious look from Lex, one which almost said, _Are you sure about this? I don't want to drag you into a bad situation._

Conner took a breath. He wanted to stay with this Lex. He _liked_ this Luthor -- he didn't want to lose him.

"So, where are we going?" Conner said to the League, as his response to Lex.

He missed Batman's soft frown at the two of them.

~*~*~*~*~*~

They ended up getting carted up to the League satellite in a Green Lantern force-bubble, because Conner pointed out that the Zeta-Beam tech would have to read his DNA, and Batman noted that it would probably be a bad idea to let Lex know the location of any of the ground transporters.

Lex wasn't blindfolded for the trip, but only because it'd be really hard to keep him blindfolded or away from all the windows the entire time for however long he would need to be on the station.

So Lex spent pretty much the entire time in the bubble staring at the ground as it grew smaller and smaller and became just the Earth as it spread out beneath them.

He looked absolutely enraptured by the sight.

As he watched Lex’s open, honest reaction to the experience, Conner sat there quietly, resting back against the bubble surrounding them, and somehow felt kind of... at peace.

Then when Green Lantern shifted their trajectory, Lex noticed and turned around.

And he stared in even more interested wonder at the Watchtower asteroid as they closed in on it.

"Why does it have such an obvious 'up' orientation?" he asked.

"It has artificial gravity; not everybody can fly," Conner told him.

Lex looked both amazed and put out.

"Can they turn it off? In places?" Lex asked.

Conner had to suppress a smile.

"What? It's _space_. There should be _some_ floating involved," Lex complained.

They were brought in through one of the large airlocks and cycled through.

True to form, they went through full decontamination procedures after entering, suits and all.

~*~*~*~*~*~

They were put in separate rooms for separate physicals, which Conner didn't seem too thrilled about because he'd wanted to keep an eye on what they were doing to Lex, but Lex himself was content to be within hollering distance.

Lex felt a little trepidation at unsuiting, because of all the scars that he _really_ didn't want catalogued, or to have to explain, but after he had undressed, gotten through the chemical and radiation showers, and redressed in some soft cottony black long-sleeved t-shirt and underwear, with matching black khaki pants, he realized that no-one had batted an eyelash at him at any point during the process.

If anything, that made him feel even more unnerved.

He let them take a blood sample that was immediately used and destroyed afterwards. He allowed the same with his DNA, even though he worried about clone-markers in the genetic structure. He even allowed a normal MRI and a CT scan, as Tess was quiescent at the moment.

He drew the line at the mental scan that they wanted the Martian Manhunter to perform.

"There are types of mindcontrol, like triggers, that just won't show up any other way," they said.

Well, screw that. He'd just have to live with what was in his head. He liked the thought of whatever triggers or memory-alteration that _they_ might perpretrate on him even less than what might already be in there.

If they were going to fuck with his head, they were going to have to deal with the moral consequences of doing it over his explicit, unequivocal denial of consent. He wasn't about to give them an engraved invitation into his head -- not when it was so clearly evident that they would take such an admission as carte blanche to decide _for_ him what might be in “his” (read: **their** ) _supposed_ best interest for them to mess with. Lex wasn’t about to supply the manipulative bastards with a near-perfect justification to soothe any moral indignation or righteous outrage that might otherwise crop up among the other brutes and ruin things for them.

They started getting pushy, physically overbearing, but he wasn't having anything for it. He wasn't going to back down just because he had three, now four, superpowered idiots looming over him. Fuck that.

Conner came in and wanted to know what was going on, and then the argument started getting really heated.

"So, just to be clear," Lex said, feeling a ghost of sad mental laughter -- because he'd knew it, just _knew_ it -- "you won't let me go without passing quarantine, I won't pass quarantine without letting the lot of you crack open my head, and if I'd refused to come with you for quarantine while earthbound, you would have pulled rank as the only power on the planet with the authority to screen aliens and dimensional visitors, and forced me to come up here and go through quarantine _anyway_ \-- so I really never had any choice in the matter -- do I have that right?" he smiled at them nastily. "And of course, there's no-one for me to appeal to, since I'm stranded here, alone and unable to return on my own, in the first place. Lovely system you have set up, here -- _very_ free-rights," he ended sarcastically.

That started a completely different fight, that actually had the League in-fighting a bit, and Lex got a short breather for awhile.

And that was about the point at which Tess showed up.

Lex proceeded to ignore her as she demanded to know what the hell was going on -- he wasn't about to make himself out as a _complete_ lunatic in front of these people. Given how they were tossing back and forth terms like 'interdimensional politics' and 'alternate Earth-rights' and such, he figured she'd pick up on it all soon enough, anyway.

"What did you _do?_ " she demanded after awhile.

Lex just sighed.

It was about that point that Conner said, "Ok, then we can just stay up here indefinitely."

Everybody came to a screeching halt.

"What?" Green Lantern asked.

"Quarantine means you won't let him go, right? So he can just stay up here until he's done with quarantine, either when he goes back home to his Earth, or if he finally gives one of you the 'okay' to look through his head. Whatever. And I can stay up here with him -- I'll keep an eye on him, so no-one has to worry about Watchtower security being compromised."

Lex had to stifle a laugh at the looks the so-called ‘adults’ were giving each other.

"Conner?" Tess said, and Lex barely stopped himself from glancing back at her. No-one had said his name--! how had she--?

Wait, did that mean that there was a Conner on...

\--No, no, he wasn't going there right now.

He shook his head slightly as he slowly slid off of the side of the hospital bed, the side away from Tess, turning his back on her, when he heard her yell, "No! I won’t let you use him!!" and he felt his neck grabbed from behind.

" _Hkk--!_ " he barely got out, as he was pulled backwards and his lower back slammed into the side of the bed. He clawed at the hands wrapped around his throat, squeezing his airway closed, and his eyes rolled back into his head as he started to black out and collapse to the floor.

"What--"

"What's--?!"

"--can't alone, I need--!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

Conner glared angrily at the red-haired madwoman _screaming_ at them as she stood and slammed her fists against the magical barrier, caught in the confinement circle Dr. Fate had spelled to hold her, which also made her visible and audible at the moment. He clenched his fists and resisted the urge to try and pound her into the ground, because he couldn't actually harm a ghost he couldn't make physical contact with.

...But apparently _this_ ghost **could** harm _Lex_.

Lex's breathing was still erratic and he wasn't completely conscious, and Martian Manhunter was checking him over as he telekinetically raise him back onto the bed.

"You don't understand! He killed me! He's hurt and killed hundreds and thousands of people! You don't know what he's done! He's a _monster!_ _**He needs to die!**_ "

He tried to get a grip on his anger, telling himself that all he'd succeed in doing if he tried to hurt her would be breaking the circle and setting her loose.

"Shut her up!" Batman demanded, and Dr. Fate gestured added an additional spell in place to keep the sound from escaping the circle as well.

Captain Marvel edged in, looking freaked out. He'd had Tower monitor duty and made the call to Dr. Fate for assistance.

"Is there anything... I mean, can I help?" he asked tentatively.

"Do you know anything about mystic or magical ties that can root a ghost in a person's mind?" J'onn asked. "This anchor looks partially, but not wholly, physical in nature. I cannot remove it through mental effort alone -- I will need magical assistance," he said, glancing up at Dr. Fate.

"I will assist," he intoned.

"Um," the Captain drew on his wisdom of Solomon. "I've heard of spells that can attach hauntings, but... um, did he see her? It's a little different if he could see her, because it's a lot more complicated and kind of risky when--"

"He did not seem to notice any presence until he was attacked," the Martian supplied.

"All right, um, maybe we should all sync up?" Captain Marvel said.

But Conner frowned a little, because he'd been watching Lex before it started, and Lex had seemed to get a little bit of a headache and kind of twitchy before--

"Wait!" he said, but it was too late. J'onn and Dr. Fate were already working together at Captain Marvel's direction through a telepathic link that Conner could almost feel at the edges of his mind, and...

Lex spasmed, screamed, and then collapsed like a rag doll, with about as much life in him.

"Oh no--" Captain Marvel began, looking panicked. " _You said he couldn't see her!!_ "

The red-haired bitch-lady suddenly seemed to get a _lot_ less solid, and realized this.

And she started laughing soundlessly as everyone realized that Lex wasn't breathing and started working frantically on him.

Conner couldn't hear a heartbeat.

He saw her mouth the words, "He's dead! He's finally dead!" Joyfully.

Conner saw red.

~*~*~*~*~*~

It took Wonder Woman, Batman, and a chunk of Kryptonite to subdue him.

Dr. Fate, meanwhile, got busy recapturing the lunatic ghost-bitch and tying it to an inanimate anchor.

Martian Manhunter had given up on trying to resuscitate Lex. He was just... gone. Pale as a sheet, and...

Black Canary was trying to console him, but it wasn't helping.

"I don't understand," Captain Marvel said, fisting his hands in his hair. "You were doing the unbinding, Fate -- didn't you notice the weaving?"

"Yes," he intoned.

"Y-- what?" the Captain said, turning to him with wide eyes. "But-- why--?!" he said, sounding shocked.

"It was his fate," Dr. Fate replied coldly. "He should have died long ago."

It was about that point that Conner decided that if he couldn't have _his_ dad, then maybe he could make sure Zatanna got hers back.

He shoved Black Canary aside and launched himself at Fate.

He ended up twisting in midair, caught in a hovering spell, and unable to do anything at all.

He might as well be powerless.

He screamed out in rage and pain.

"Fate, let him down!" Black Canary commanded, and by the time he finally did so, Conner was feeling as black inside as a large gaping hole with no bottom.

Conner was shaking, and trying very hard not to cry. He wasn't going to let that Fate bastard see him--

Lex gasped and nearly jackknifed on the bed, spasming and coughing.

Conner's head snapped up.

"Holy camolee!" Captain Marvel exclaimed, jumping back, startled as hell.

J'onn wide-eyed, immediately went back to his side and started checking him over, but Lex's gasping settled out on its own, and so did the spasms. He collapsed back down onto the bed again, looking like hell, but this time he was anything but lifeless.

The ghost started mindlessly screaming with rage.

Dr. Fate turned slowly towards the bed.

"That should not have happened," he said.

Conner took the opportunity to body-slam the bastard into the wall.

Then he snarled and grabbed the helmet and--

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Nice of you to join us," he heard an amused voice say.

Conner slowly opened his eyes to see Lex sitting on the side of his hospital bed, looking a little worn, but otherwise ok.

"So, Conner, do you want the bad news or the worse-- oof!" he said as Conner tackle-hugged him.

"...Conner?" he asked tentatively.

"Oh..." Lex said quietly, and then slowly encircled Conner with his arms in a warm hug back.

Conner didn't know what to do, but he was shaking with it all -- he wanted to laugh, cry, scream, rage, never ever ever move again...

He heard Lex sigh, and then felt a hand slowly slide through his hair, softly petting it, once, twice... it was kind of... soothing...

Conner sniffled a little and buried his head against Lex's chest.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"So, wait, the bad news is that Dr. Fate is ticked off with you for trying to get his helmet off, and the worse news is that Lex is alive? How is that bad and worse?" Wally asked over a bowl of cereal at the kitchen table in the Young Justice mountain complex.

"Yes, and yes, and 'because Lex said so'," Conner said through the videocomm in the kitchen on the Watchtower satellite. He sighed and bit into another cookie.

"Wow, if _that's_ your _bad_ news, then your _good_ news must be _great!_ " Rocket said, crowding into the field of view.

"The good news is, they're not going to force me to get my brain fried any more than they already have with that stupid stunt they pulled, and quarantine doesn't mean being stuck in a white windowless room in a straitjacket twenty-four-seven," Lex orated. "The better news is that everybody has given Tess a chance to talk about how horribly evil I am and how I killed her and apparently did a laundry list of despicable, evil things, and I can't defend myself because I can't remember any of it. Oh, and some of it may even be true. Well, most of it. --Oh, hell, who am I kidding? It's probably all of it. Why would anyone give me the benefit of the doubt? I know _I_ wouldn't," Lex ended, waving a spatula about.

"He's not happy that the League saved his life, he's stuck on the satellite indefinitely with somebody having to guard him at all times, and some of the magic users in the League are seriously considering stuffing his dead half-sister back into his body and giving her full control over him," Conner translated, resting his chin on his fist and wishing there was somebody he was allowed to punch, because this whole mess was giving him a headache. Who knew adopting a dad would be such hard work?

"...Uh, I think you guys have 'good' and 'bad' mixed up," Rocket said after a pause.

"Really? Hm, I suppose that _could_ explain a good number of my previous-life decisions --or a bad number of them," Lex snarked as he moved a few more cookies off of the baking sheet onto a layer of paper towels.

"Do I get any cookies?" Wally asked, perking up.

"Only if you come up here and eat them at regular human speed like the rest of us," Lex rejoined.

"Hmpf," Wally said, crossing his arms and looking petulant.

"What, you can't come up here? Is the commute too hard?" Lex teased.

"I haven't got satellite access," Wally said grumpily.

"Really?" Lex said, all-innocence. "How odd -- _I_ thought that the League had extended some limited satellite access to you and your team members for the duration of my--"

Wally was gone from the monitor and they heard the Zeta-beam teleportal go off.

"--stay," Lex ended, as he picked up another plate of cookies and handed it over to Wally as he zipped in.

"Dude, you have mad baking skills!" Wally proclaimed around a mouthful of cookie.

"Mad science, evil baking, half-dozen of one..." Lex shrugged. "--Don't talk with your mouth full," he added belatedly.

Wally just rolled his eyes and started in on another cookie.

"Do I get some?" Rocket asked hopefully.

"The current batch should be done cooling in about five minutes," he said, to a wince-inducing squeal of glee and a suddenly-black communication screen.

"You know, I suddenly have the distinct feeling that I'm going to be baking a lot during my time here," Lex said, rolling his eyes ceilingward.

"Aw, you know you love us!" Wally grinned as he picked up his glass for a refill of milk.

"Are those cookies?" they all heard Captain Marvel ask hopefully as he wandered into the kitchen area.

Wally hunched over his cookies defensively. Lex sighed.

Conner rolled his eyes and slid his plate over, sharing the wealth.

~*~*~*~*~*~


End file.
